Woke up at 1 am and needed a bathroom visit. Looked out toward the yard feeder and found that we had a large hog munching away on the corn I had dumped there. I had found a bucket of corn I’d forgotten about, so threw it out in front of the feeder and doused it good with Hog Wild. That stuff does seem to work pretty well. Anyway, when I saw that hog, I grabbed the 6.5 Grendel, slipped some shoes on, snuck out the back door and shot that rascal. Went back to bed. Saw him in the yard this morning. He didn’t get far. My point here, other than to brag on my uncommon shooting skills, is that I have shot a bunch of hogs with a 223 in this yard over the years and only found a couple of them. Poor performance with that round. But with the Grendel, no hog has left the yard before expiring. Shooting reloads of 123 gr SSTs over H335. Even with sloppy bullet placement, the Grendel drops them.

Yep, exactly why I switched all of my AR rifles over to 300BLK. .223 is terrible IMO.

I run a Grendel in the Ruger American Predator platform. Haven't had the chance to apply it to a hog yet, but mercy sakes it is accurate!

Assuming you had between 62 and 90 grains zipping out of 223 compared to 123 grains from Grendel, to me the energy difference should be obvious, even with speed differences. I built/assembled a Howa mini 6.5G for my son and while the hog count on it isn't high, all have dropped immediately with a neck/spine shot using your same bullet. The cartridge certainly makes a difference but correct bullet is important too. I took a guy hog hunting once and he showed up with his 223 and Wolf 55gr FMJ . I found out later, he'd left a bolt 308Win at the house . I don't like the 223 for hunting and owned a 6.8 for several years before getting a 223.

Yep! I tried bullet after bullet on hogs in the 223. 63 and 65 gr Sierras and 64 gr Nosler BSBs. Heck, the reason I bought an AR in 223 was for follow-up shots, since the bolt action in 223 wasn’t dropping them. No problem dropping them with the Grendel.

I finally gave up on the 223 when I had a nice clear broadside shot on a medium sized hog. I took the time on the shot (neck) and off he went. Never found him. That was not the first lost hog shot with a 223, but it’s the last.

The Grendel will do it. The 223 will work also, but you need a much better bullet. A BTHP or 55 grain SP can struggle with penetration. I'm getting in a bunch of the Nosler 64 grain Bonded bullets to load up. That is the best hunting bullet I've ever seen in the 223/5.56 platform. It works well from the pigs and deer my kids shot with them.

I have used that bullet in .223, and yes, it does work...but bigger calibers work mo' better.

Sho nuff, otherwise we'd still be using Daisy's.

Nice! The Grendel works great for me too. I've been using my stash of Hornady American Gunner that I picked up at Sportsman's warehouse for the price of component brass before the shortage. It does the job in short order.

Group I hunt with run a couple of Grendel AR's. No complaints. Hogs always go down (usually where they stand).

I think I could count the number of hogs I've killed with .223/5.56 on one hand (IF I could remember, that is!). Oh, it'll kill em, but bullet choice makes all the difference. When my hog hunting opportunities expanded dramatically I bought a 6.5 Grendel upper and began fooling with it, then became convinced that the 6mm AR (essentially identical to the 6mm ARC) took the best advantage of that small case. And it killed hogs, all right, but somehow I couldn't just go with it...I was always searching for another bullet to try or another powder to try and get a little bit more out of it. Finally one day I decided a large frame AR chambered in .260 Rem wasn't too heavy to tote around and certainly not too heavy to hoist up into a blind.

I'll always insist that it's all about the bullet: which bullet, how fast, and where does it hit because it's undeniably true. But another undeniable truth is that bigger is generally better and not always necessary, but nice to have. Three dozen hogs over the last nine months would nod their dead heads "yes!"

In my experience its all about shot placement and bullet performance. I agree that bigger is sometimes better. I use 6.8 SPC with Hornady 120 gr SST. shot palcement is not as critical with that caliber. shoulder shots penetrate both shoulders and the bullet is found in the off side just under the skin. With this shot hogs runs 20-30 yards and die. Neck and ear shot puts them straight down, but they bleed under the feeder which seems to scare the hogs off for a day or two. I also use 223 Wylde with Hornady 75 gr BTHP and same results as 6.8. but I don't shoot high shoulder. I aim lower hoping to hit heart and lungs.

I love those 5 minute hog hunts.

I've had much the same experience with my 6.8 SPC-II. Most hogs DRT, never lost one or had it get far. If I'm shooting .223, it's definitely a heavier bullet, normally the 65gr SGK.

There is no doubt that 6.5 Grendel will take care the job. My hunting buddy also swears by using the Hornady 5.56 75GR Boat Tail HP. He claimed he had not missed a hog with that caliber.

Yep! I love my 6.5 Grendel AR. Thats my Hog gun. Most of the other guys switched over to grendel too. Flat shooting, quicker follow up shots...etc.

Grendel has worked well for me, liked it in the AR enough built a boltaction before there were any factory rifles for it

I used the 5.56 a great deal when hogs started their expansion. Mostly because I had a beater AR that shot good and was handy to put behind the seat. It worked just fine with head and necks shots for me. I mostly used the Federal M193 55 gr. FMJ. A lot of the hogs I shot did run off but I didn't care. Corn eating, feeder busting, hole digging bastids. So if a hog got itself to some brushy tangle and died great. Now generally when I load for my 223 it is topped with the 75 gr. Hornady BTHP. A better bullet but still nowhere near as good on hogs as either of my Grendels or my 7-08 if I actually want to eat the hog shot or like some get a picture of it. Rare anymore.

Hahaha!

My thermal is on my 6.5 Grendel. I love it. Finding ammo got a little hard there for awhile but it is getting a bit better. I've only had one hog not go down on the first shot, bad placement when he was on the run. But, I love the caliber.

Ditto. Bought mime from a forum member here who built it himself and it has turned the lights out on some hogs the last couple years. Got a good thermal optic shortly after I bought it. Now running it with a can and it’s still very accurate.

An enlarged prostate caused that pig's demise.